Using Microsoft Dynamics GP to Improve Preparation for an Audit: Four Approaches

A major topic of discussion at the GPUG Summit 2008 last week was how to prepare for audits.  Here are some of the highlights:

1. Going paperless, streamlining processes

Creating a paperless office isn't just about going green. It's about streamlining processes, cutting costs, and ensuring that all your paperwork is in order when it comes time for an audit. At a breakout session on Monday at the GPUG Summit 2008, Peri Lynn Silkwood of Altec, Inc. described how its Doc-Link add-on gives GP users the tools to electronically capture documents, streamline them into the workflow, route and distribute them, and ultimately, when needed, retrieve them off the desktop.

"Instead of the time-consuming process of documents going through an office," Silkwood explained during her presentation, "you have documents at your fingertips."

The first step, after implementing the Doc-Link program, is to start scanning in paper-whether that be AP invoices, packing slips, or additional. Information relating to these documents can either be entered manually or automatically. Then, once a value is entered with an inputted document, that value is entered to every subsequent document associated with the transaction. With Doc-Link, Silkwood demonstrated, inputting the invoice number value could pull up the associated PO, check run, packing slip, and even a relevant email that had been included.  When it then comes time for an audit,  gathering supporting and relevant documents no longer takes days of sorting through file cabinets; all the documents are ready to be retrieved from your computer.

2. Control security access

No company is immune from cost-intensive and oftentimes lengthy audits. At a roundtable discussion led by GPUG Director of ...